Easement eyed for elimination could be public beach access, residents claim

An oceanfront easement Long Branch is considering giving up could become a public access point, residents argue. Watch video

LONG BRANCH -- Long Branch is considering giving up a 77-year-old oceanfront easement, an action some residents argue would prevent surfers, fishermen and others from getting easy access to the beach.

The easement, first acquired for the city in 1939, was the subject of an ordinance that was set for a final vote on Tuesday night. But after a flurry of inquiries about the topic hours before its meeting, the city council decided to postpone the vote while it decides whether to keep the easement after all.

Members of the public opposed to giving up the easement in the city's affluent Elberon section said the city would lose an opportunity to make beach access easier in an area dominated by large homes and few public access points.

"We are very concerned about the broad trend that seems to be picking up a bit of municipalities abandoning rights of way to the shore that might be used to provide for public access," Tim Dillingham, executive director of the American Littoral Society, told the council at Tuesday night's meeting.

N.J. beaches get their first dollop of new sand

Dillingham said access is already spotty in that area because there are parking restrictions on the few streets there and only a few parking spaces.

And now with Elberon scheduled to get wider beaches through a federal replenishment project, the city should make every effort to allow as much access as possible to what would become a public beach through that widening project, he said.

"When the beach nourishment project comes in, that provides an opportunity to increase access to the beach for the community. We think that's appropriate. The...city should not be taking an action which might undermine that opportunity."

At least 495 feet long and about 50 feet wide, the easement runs perpendicular to the ocean alongside an undeveloped lot at 907 Ocean Ave., about a half-mile south of a development project on the shores of Lake Takanassee. The tract was acquired by the state in 1939 to give the city maintenance access to a jetty and bulkhead built along the ocean there.

Over the decades, surfers, fishermen and other beachgoers used the path as an unofficial access point to the beach there.

Now the property is going to be developed and the owner has asked the city to vacate the easement so that he can have clean title to the property, said Mayor Adam Schneider.

The property is owned by 907 Ocean Ave. LLC, whose principal is Jason Labaz of New York City, part owner of the real estate investment firm United American Land LLC, according to property records.

Schneider said before Tuesday night's meeting that he and other council members were initially under the impression that the easement was part of the Takanassee project and wouldn't pose an access issue because construction of the townhouses and single-family homes being built on the site of an old Life Saving Station and beach club also requires the installation of a public access point.

"Apparently, the land in question has been used by fishermen and maybe some surfers to get down to the ocean. We want to investigate that a little bit more," Schneider said at the meeting. "If, in fact, we find that there's a public access issue there, we're going to deal with it before we do anything."

The mayor also said the city no longer uses the easement because there's no jetty there, but Dillingham noted a jetty and bulkhead still exist there.

Dillingham and Long Branch resident Vincent Lepore also questioned why the state Department of Environmental Protection did not require the Laboz to build a public access point there as part of the construction permit he received under the state Coastal Area Facilities Review Act (CAFRA).

The city council is expected to hold a final vote on the ordinance at its April 12 meeting.